Recently I purchased non-aerosol protective spray from Saphir. I posted the photo on my Instagram and received a comment, “what’s the difference between non-aerosol and aerosol waterproof spray?”. So I decided to find out the difference between the two. The experiment was straightforward. I used a pair of brown suede Chelsea boots from Loake for the experiment. I purchased both aerosol and non-aerosol ones and compared it.
The result can be seen on my Youtube video, all in all, both of them work and do their job as hydrophobic (waterproof) sprays. They both repelled water successfully. My shoes weren’t soaked or wet from water being poured on the shoes.
But what is Aerosol?
Aerosol
So what is aerosol? The word aerosol means that gas or liquid is trapped or enclosed with high pressure. Usually contains formaldehyde or xylene inside the can to pressurise the gas and release the gas once pressed. This allows whatever is inside to travel out of the can far and evenly.
Saphir Waterproof spray - nonaerosol
There were some problems with the non-aerosol protective spray. It is not as perfect as it seems. When you use the non-aerosol spray, it sprays very unevenly and leaks a bit when you use it. When it is sprayed unevenly, it does not cover the whole area as you would like it to, therefore some parts of the shoe were wet during the experiment.
Saphir waterproof spray - Aerosol
Meanwhile for the aerosol spray was great at covering the shoes. The boot was not wet at all when I poured the water. However, the smell wasn’t pleasant. Also, aerosol sprays release harmful gas for the environment and humans.
I would recommend for anyone reading this or watching my video to use the non-aerosol protective spray. You just need to spray it more evenly throughout the shoes and be careful when you spray so that it does not leak. I am more leaning towards protecting the environment for a small inconvenience that the non-aerosol spray will cause. This spray is a universal spray that can be used for any type of surfaces, so it can also protect my jackets and bags.
Here is a quick update in 2022 (almost two years after this was written) on after using both sprays for a long time. I love the saphir non-aerosol waterproof spray, but the spray part gets stuck very easily. Sometimes it’s very hard to press to release the hydrophobic liquid. Aerosol one on the other hand is very good and sprays very evenly too.
I would suggest for you to buy the aerosol one when if you are going out in a really wet or snowy place. If it’s mildly raining, or we say “spitting”, I would say you are okay to use the non-aerosol one.
